Museum of Science
Design a Submarine
Don't just sink the boat. Using a closed container as a submarine, pupils experiment to see what to add to the container to make it float, sink to the bottom, and hover in the middle. After finding one option, learners see if they can...
Curated OER
The Magical Diving Sub
First graders discuss and predict if a given object sinks or floats. They record their predictions on a data sheet. Pupils test the objects and organize them into floating/sinking groups. Students observe the floating and sinking of a...
Curated OER
Build Your Own Submarine
Students construct their own submarine following a certain procedure. In this physics activity, students calculate the density of objects using a mathematical formula. They explain why some object floats in water while some do not.
Curated OER
Leaky Seal
Junior high schoolers explore possible theories for the cause of the Hunley submarine sinking. Through hands on activities, they investigate how to create a waterproof seal. Afterwards, they discuss how seals work and various...
Curated OER
I've Got That Sinking Feeling
Young scholars design a simple boat and predict how much weight it can carry. They should also discover why objects float or sink and how this can be determined experimentally. A great lesson on buoyancy!
Curated OER
Density - To Float or Not to Float? That is the Question!
Students investigate how to find the density of fluids and solids using math. Students also learn how to find the density of regular and irregular shaped objects.
Curated OER
The Magical Diving Sub
Students use their background knowledge of how scientists work to discuss and predict if a given object will sink or float. They record their predictions on a data sheet. Students test the objects and organize them into floating or...
Curated OER
Condiment Diver: The World's Simplest Cartesian Diver
Middle schoolers examine buoyancy. In this density lesson students form a hypothesis, collect data and draw a conclusion using the data.
Cornell University
Buoyancy
Swimmers know to float by turning their bodies horizontally rather than vertically, but why does that make a difference? In an interesting instructional activity, scholars explore buoyancy and the properties of air and water. They test...
Curated OER
Water Density and Stability Lab
Students observe how different water densities and salinity control the depth at which different water masses occur. Submarines are used as a case study. This is a well-designed with an excellent worksheet.
NOAA
Come on Down!
What do we do when a dive is too dangerous for humans to accomplish? Send in the robots! Middle school scientists get acquainted with several different models of submersible robots in the second lesson of six from NOAA. Lab groups then...
Curated OER
Investigating the Effect of Salinity on the Density and Stability of Water
Water with varying amounts of dissolved salt are dyed and then used to compare densities. The objective is to discover the effect of salinity, and therefore density, on ocean water on the stability of the ocean. Many branches of science...
Curated OER
Salinity Lab
For this salinity worksheet, students simulate conditions of salt and fresh water mixing and observe the various densities of these solutions based on their salinity.
Curated OER
Water Density and Salinity
Students observe how different water densities control the depth at which different water masses occur. They explain one fact that they comprehend about salt water. Students comprehend that temperature and salinity affect the density...
Curated OER
Graphical Determination of Density
Students determine the density of metal shot by a graphical method using significant digits in making measurements and calculations. Students graph a seris of laboratory measurements and determine density from a mass verses volume graph.
Museum of Science
Museum of Science and Industry: Online Science: Design a Submarine
Become an engineer, and design a submarine that moves in the water like a real submarine. Try making it sink, float, and hover in the water.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Investigating Buoyancy, Density, and Fluid Principles: Make Mini Submarine
In this lab, students will use the scientific method to design an experiment that explains how/why a submarine floats and sinks.
Other
National Engineers Week Foundation: Flinker
Students investigate with common objects to see if they can make something that neither floats nor sinks, but rather "flinks" in the middle.
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Submarine Race Experiment
Balance the force of gravity with the force of the expanding gasses created by mixing baking soda and vinegar. Create a soda bottle submarine that sinks to the bottom of the bathtub and then rises back to the surface.
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Scientific American: Beneath the Sea: Blowing Ballast
Explore the use of ballast to manipulate buoyancy in submarines by building a model of a submersible using two-liter bottles and balloons. Describe the balance of forces that is responsible for the surfacing and diving of submersibles.
PBS
Pbs Teachers:mysteries of the Deep: Leaky Seal
Investigate the mystery of the sinking of the Confederate submarine Hunley. Explore the mechanics of waterproofing a seal, and compare and contrast the effectiveness of a metal-to-metal seal versus one that uses a rubber gasket.